M.I.C., Ltd. v. Bedford Twp., 463 U.S. 1341 (1983)

M.I.C., Ltd. v. Bedford Township


No. A-147


Decided September 13, 1983
463 U.S. 1341

ON APPLICATION FOR STAY

Syllabus

An application by the owner and the operator of a drive-in theater to stay the Michigan trial court’s preliminary injunction -- in respondent township’s action for common law nuisance based on applicants’ recent exhibition of two allegedly obscene films -- prohibiting them from showing any films containing scenes of explicit sexual intercourse or other carnal acts, is granted pending decision of their appeal in the Michigan courts. Since it appears that appellate review of the preliminary injunction will not be completed for several months, and since both the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court have refused to stay the injunction pending review, the First Amendment requirement that a State provide procedures to assure a prompt final judicial decision as to the validity of a prior restraint on protected speech has not been satisfied, and thus the stay is warranted.